Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary полностью

1 N‑VAR When a baby is born, you refer to this event as his or her birth . □ [+ of ] It was the birth of his grandchildren which gave him greatest pleasure. □  She weighed 5lb 7oz at birth. □  …premature births.

2 N‑UNCOUNT [with poss] You can refer to the beginning or origin of something as its birth . □ [+ of ] …the birth of popular democracy.

3 N‑UNCOUNT Some people talk about a person's birth when they are referring to the social position of the person's family. □  …men of low birth. □  His birth, background and career show that you can make it in this country on merit alone.

4 → see also date of birth , home birth

5 PHRASE If, for example, you are French by birth , you are French because your parents are French, or because you were born in France. □  Sadrudin was an Iranian by birth.

6 PHRASE When a woman gives birth , she produces a baby from her body. □  She's just given birth to a baby girl.

7 PHRASE To give birth to something such as an idea means to cause it to start to exist. □  A competition involving injured war veterans gave birth to the modern Paralympic movement.

8 PHRASE The country, town, or village of your birth is the place where you were born.

bi rth cer|tifi|cate (birth certificates ) N‑COUNT Your birth certificate is an official document which gives details of your birth, such as the date and place of your birth, and the names of your parents.

bi rth con|trol N‑UNCOUNT Birth control means planning whether to have children, and using contraception to prevent having them when they are not wanted.

birth|date /bɜː ^r θde I t/ (birthdates ) N‑COUNT Your birthdate is the same as your date of birth .

birth|day ◆◇◇ /bɜː ^r θde I , -di/ (birthdays ) N‑COUNT Your birthday is the anniversary of the date on which you were born.

bi rth|day suit (birthday suits ) N‑COUNT If you are in your birthday suit , you are not wearing any clothes. [INFORMAL , HUMOROUS or OLD-FASHIONED ]

birth|ing /bɜː ^r θ I ŋ/ ADJ [ADJ n] Birthing means relating to or used during the process of giving birth. □  The hospital has pioneered the use of birthing pools.

birth|mark /bɜː ^r θmɑː ^r k/ (birthmarks ) N‑COUNT A birthmark is a mark on someone's skin that has been there since they were born.

birth|place /bɜː ^r θple I s/ (birthplaces )

1 N‑COUNT Your birthplace is the place where you were born. [WRITTEN ]

2 N‑COUNT The birthplace of something is the place where it began. □ [+ of ] Ironbridge Gorge is known as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.

bi rth rate (birth rates ) also birth-rate N‑COUNT The birth rate in a place is the number of babies born there for every 1000 people during a particular period of time. □  …improvements in food production and public health resulting in increasing birth rate. □  …a falling birth-rate.

birth|right /bɜː ^r θra I t/ (birthrights ) N‑COUNT [usu sing] Something that is your birthright is something that you feel you have a basic right to have, simply because you are a human being. □  Freedom is the natural birthright of every human.

bis|cuit /b I sk I t/ (biscuits )

1 N‑COUNT A biscuit is a small flat cake that is crisp and usually sweet. [BRIT ] in AM, use cookie 2 N‑COUNT A biscuit is a small round dry cake that is made with baking powder, baking soda, or yeast. [AM ]

3 PHRASE If someone has done something very stupid, rude, or selfish, you can say that they take the biscuit or that what they have done takes the biscuit , to emphasize your surprise at their behaviour. [BRIT , EMPHASIS ] in AM, use take the cake

bi|sect /ba I se kt/ (bisects , bisecting , bisected ) VERB If something long and thin bisects an area or line, it divides the area or line in half. □ [V n] The main street bisects the town from end to end.